Hand in Hand with Haiti

Haiti has been called a republic of NGO’s.  An NGO is a Non-Governmental Organization, such as Servants for Haiti.  There are more than 10,000 such organizations dedicated to helping Haiti pull itself out of the mess it has been in for as long as anyone can remember.  How is it that 10,000 groups, some very well-funded, have not made a significant dent in Haiti’s problems in all these years?  There are a variety of reasons.

First, many are just bailing water from the ship, simply trying to keep Haiti afloat.  Those are relief organizations, feeding and educating children, sending short term medical teams, and running other reactive programs.   That was SFH until recently.  All our efforts were essentially life-support.

Let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with that approach, as far as it goes.  Many people who might have otherwise lost their lives or families that could have been destroyed were saved because of the efforts of such groups.  SFH continues to do relief work by building homes for people living without any shelter.

The problem is that this approach treats symptoms, not the disease.  And as long as we only treat symptoms and never go for a cure, we will always be busy doing so, bailing a sinking ship.  That is the rationale for our change of direction toward creating more economic opportunities for Haitians to help themselves and each other.

A second problem: Sadly, there are some very questionable groups out there.  Well-meaning donors must be on their guards when they support any group working in Haiti.  Do you have personal knowledge of the organization?  Are they forthcoming about their work?  Do they keep overhead costs low?  (SFH spends no more than 10% of our income on administrative costs.)  Checking out a group is good stewardship of your money and serves Haiti better.  Whether the cause is inefficiency, incompetency, or immorality, if a group is ineffective, it does not deserve our support.

Another reason that the republic of NGO’s has been largely ineffective in bringing about change – and the reason for this article – is that they tend to work in isolation from one another and from local people.  That is definitely not the way of Servants for Haiti.  We have been establishing partnerships with other non-profits with philosophies and goals in alignment with ours.

One such alliance is with ASAM Ministries, led by Andre and Sylvie Drisdelle.  Rather than try to learn the ins and outs of supplying housing for the people of Haiti, we have come alongside this group that is already providing housing.  Keep coming back to our site to learn more about ASAM and other groups we will be working with.  (You can visit ASAM’s blog here.  Note that most of it is in French, however.)  If you travel with us on one of our work teams, you can see and participate in this partnership first hand.

Finally, some organizations try to do things  “the American way”.  In other words, they feel they know how to help Haiti better than Haitians do.  That has never been the way SFH has operated and it never will.  In our previous work, we partnered with Haitian pastor Rigaud Antoine, who runs the school and orphanage we supported.  Looking ahead, our micro-loan program is being managed by a Haitian businesswoman.  We will be featuring a profile of her in a future post.

With your support, the blessing of God, and continued partnerships, this man will have that much more to be proud of.

But what kind of help?

Permit me to explain the strange title of this post.

Whenever we send a team to Haiti, we are inundated with requests to carry gifts and other items down with us to give to the children and their families.  This is usually the result of great generosity on the part of the giver.  It’s hard to believe that bringing down personal care items, clothing, and food could have anything but a positive effect.

But there is a dark side to such giving.  For every item we bring, that’s one thing that will not need to be purchased in Haiti from a Haitian businessperson with Haitian employees.  In the case of a single pair of shoes or a single package of diapers, it might not seems like much of a deprivation.  But there are thousands of people taking thousands of items.  That makes quite a dent in an already floundering economy.

Taken to its extreme, this kind of activity can completely destroy an entire industry.  That has been the case with rice.  Haiti used to have

No Haitian rice available.

a thriving rice industry.  Subsidized rice from other countries, including the US, has made it cheaper to buy foreign rice than native rice.  As a result, there is no rice industry in Haiti anymore.

Servants for Haiti is more aware of this issue than ever.  We are now in the business of helping Haitians start businesses.  If those businesses are DOA because of free imported goods, our efforts are for naught.

What to do?  Send money.  If you want to give diapers to an orphanage or food for a family, give a team member the money to buy the goods in Haiti.  We hope to make that process easier over time.  For now, however, simply be aware that every shirt you send down is a shirt that won’t be bought from a local vendor.

This is a real problem with real victims.

Local markets can't compete with free stuff.

With all that has happened in Haiti in the past year, sometimes it’s hard to know how much to tell our children.  While it’s tempting to isolate young ones from the suffering our Haitian friends are going through, it’s also a great teaching opportunity.  Depending on their age and maturity, discussing these topics can help children develop compassion and gratitude that will make them more caring and responsible adults.

This writer recently came upon a book that can be used as a way to help kids understand the effects of the earthquake.  “Eight Days” is a book by renowned writer Edwidge Danticat.   It is a gorgeously illustrated picture book that tells the story of how a little boy survived being buried in the rubble of his home for eight days.  As grim as it sounds, the story is touching, heartfelt, and even hopeful.

Today’s educated child is tomorrow’s compassionate servant for Haiti.

[Note that this is one writer's opinion, not an official recommendation by Servants for Haiti.]

Christmas is insane.  Pure and simple.

There is no way around it.  And everyone knows it.  Most people complain about the hassle of the holiday season.  Many pay lip service to the over-commercialization of Christmas. But nothing changes.

Some people adorn bumper stickers or pins proclaiming Jesus as the “reason for the season”.  Yet how can overspending, over-consuming, overeating, and overdoing be considered an appropriate way to observe the birthday of a Savior who was born into poverty, lived in obscurity and died in ignominy?  (Hint: It can’t.)

Advent Conspiracy is a movement that seeks to remind us what the Christmas season is really all about.  Watch this video then reconsider how you will celebrate this Christmas this year.

How will you mark the occasion?  Will you spend money you don’t have for gifts the recipients don’t need?  Will you ask the question, “What do I give the person who has everything?” Or will you ask, “What can I give to the person who has nothing?”

We at Servants for Haiti humbly suggest that there is a better way to celebrate Christmas – the way Jesus did, through sacrificial giving to those in need.  To be part of the Advent Conspiracy, visit our donations page.

Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All

Join the conspiracy.

Here’s a fun exercise.  Want to see how rich you are in relation to the entire world?  Visit the site below to get your ranking.

Now when you consider that the average annual salary for a Haitian is about $400, it should cause you to think about how you are using your money.

Haiti has suffered through a lot in just the first decade of the 21st century: poverty, hunger, disease, civil war, kidnappings, floods, storms, political unrest, and more.  Now the worst tragedy of all, the recent earthquake, has put this nation through more suffering and testing than is conceivable.  Yet their strength and dignity in the face of so much horror appears to be unshakable.

When I think of such things, I am reminded of a trip I made to Haiti back in 2002.  The team I was serving on was working on the CJRA school that SFH supports to this.  (And which, miraculously, survived the earthquake virtually intact!)  I was so impressed by a T-shirt that one of the Haitian workers was wearing, that I took this picture:

A Haitian worker declares his pride in his country (2002)

I have no idea who the man is or where he is now, but the declarati0n of pride on his shirt reminds me of all he and his country-folk have been through.   Not only does he take pride in his country, he clearly takes pride in his work.  The Haitians I have worked alongside are perhaps the hardest working people I’ve ever encountered.  It makes me more motivated than ever to work on behalf of him and all Haitians.  They deserve better.